Headlines

The numbers aren’t dramatic at first glance — a 2.3 per cent annual increase in consumer insolvencies tempered by a 3.8 per cent dip in filings in the fourth quarter. But taken together, they tell a story about pressure building quietly for many Canadian households, the Toronto Star reported. New data from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB) shows there were 140,457 consumer insolvency filings in 2025 — the second-highest annual total since record-keeping began in 1987, and the highest in 16 years.

Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca, which is controlled by Mexican business magnate Ricardo Salinas Pliego, said on Thursday that shareholders had approved a voluntary bankruptcy process for restructuring the company's finances and liabilities, Reuters reported. TV Azteca said that the decision to initiate the bankruptcy process was based on the impact of license payments to the government in 2018, the COVID‑19 pandemic, a "complex negotiation" with international creditors and the recent payment of years of owed taxes to Mexican authorities.

Major Turkish holding company Zorlu began talks with state banks to restructure its debts, according to two people familiar with the private talks, in what could be the largest Turkish corporate loan structuring since the 2018 lira crisis, Reuters reported. Zorlu Holding, which owns valuable real estate as well as loss-making appliance and electronics firm Vestel Elektronik held CEO-level talks with state banks and smaller private lenders last week to begin setting out a restructuring plan, the two sources said.

French AA gaming developer and accessory manufacturer Nacon said that it has filed for insolvency after its majority shareholder Bigben failed to make a loan repayment, Endgadget.com reported. "To date, the company reports available assets do not allow it to meet its liabilities," Nacon wrote. The objective with insolvency, it said, was to allow "continued operation, protect employees and maintain jobs while renegotiating with its creditors." Nacon is behind the games Styx: Blades of Greed and was set to publish Terminator: Survivors before that title was delayed.

Oil major Shell, the healthier joint-venture partner in Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer Raizen, ‌is ready to pour more resources into a recapitalization of the distressed company, three ‌people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Raizen, a top global sugar maker, is in tough financial straits after posting ​a third-quarter net loss of 15.6 billion reais ($3 billion) in mid-February, when it warned of "significant uncertainty" about its ability to keep operating.

U.S. tariffs have rerouted trade, but not dented it as much as feared, allowing larger-than-expected economic growth in certain developing markets, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Growth in the 41 countries covered by the development finance institution rose by a larger-than-forecast 3.4%, but the bank warned that continued trade turmoil could yet derail growth in some of the economies.

The U.S. is moving to sever a small Swiss bank from access to the U.S. financial system for its alleged support for Iranian and Russian actors, as U.S. and Iranian officials hold indirect talks Thursday in Geneva over Tehran’s nuclear negotiations, the Associated Press reported. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed a federal regulation Thursday that, if finalized, would prohibit U.S. institutions from doing business with MBaer Merchant Bank AG, which has no relation to the larger Swiss bank Julius Baer. The bank is accused of funneling over $100 million through the U.S.

Thousands more young people are stuck on the sidelines of the economy despite a rise in the number of under-25-year-olds searching for work, The Telegraph reported. There are now 957,000 people aged 16 to 24 not in employment, education or training (Neet), according to the Office for National Statistics. The total for the three months to December rose from 946,000 during the previous quarter, marking the first increase in six months. More young people moved from being economically inactive into searching for work.

Ukraine will see less economic growth this year due to extensive destruction of Ukraine's energy infrastructure by Russia over the winter, an international development bank said Thursday, as businesses struggle to keep going into the fifth year of Russia's invasion, the Associated Press reported. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Redevelopment halved its 2026 growth forecast for the country to 2.5% in its current outlook from 5% growth in the previous estimate from September.

Freight flows across western Mexico are beginning to normalize after several days of cartel-related violence disrupted highways, ports and manufacturing operations tied to U.S.-Mexico trade, the Associated Press reported. A deadly military operation targeting the leadership of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) on Sunday triggered road blockades, temporary facility shutdowns and airport disruptions across parts of Jalisco, Michoacán and neighboring states. More than 70 people have reportedly died in the violence, including 25 National Guard members.